For anyone who has recently seen my portfolio there should be two things you notice. Firstly, there is an all new theme there (it’s an out of the box theme at the moment, modified to be how I like it). And secondly, I’ve been working really hard on a super secret Spotify app for about the last month and it’s finally launched!
I sometimes grumble that working for a startup can take your life away, but the truth is that I love working on significant projects and this is truly one of the most significant yet. With mentions in Wired Magazine, The Huffington Post and PC World I must say I am really proud of what we achieved at We Are Hunted.
I have been an avid lurker of Reddit for quite a while, and have become more interested in some of the subreddits more recently. There is a lot of garbage on the website to sift through, but every now and then you come across a post that is an absolute gem like the one I am reposting below.
What are the best TED talks? (self.AskReddit) was asked by someone and the top answer comes from one of the TEDx Organisers, posting the following.
- In the mood to see demographic data come to life in front of you?
Hans Rosling – It’s the talk I send people to introduce them to TED. A classic. - In the mood to learn something new about music and be inspired?
Benjamin Zander – The second talk I send people. Just an incredible speaker, I’ve never met someone who didn’t love this talk. Got me to listen to classical music in a whole new way. - In the mood to feel excited about the education system?
Salman Khan – My favorite talk ever. Bill Gates comes on at the end and calls his method the “future of education.” If you like data/engineering, you’re especially likely to fall in love this this video. - In the mood to wonder at the mysterious nature of the human brain?
Jill Bolte Taylor – One of the talks to put TED on the map. Harvard neuroscientist happens to gets a stroke, achieves a nirvana-like state, and then studies what happened to her to figure it out. - In the mood to laugh and also reflect on how schools work and don’t?
Ken Robinson – Another classic TED talk, Robinson discusses the importance of creativity. The talk is both charming and deeply thoughtful. - In the mood to reconsider how society treats creativity?
Elizabeth Gilbert – Another classic, the top talk for people interested in writing/the arts. Basically, we pressure artists in subtle and unfair ways with our modern conception of what it means to be a ‘genius.’ - In the mood to watch an incredible tech demo?
Pattie Maes – I don’t know what’s happened to this since then, but this technology was all the buzz when the talk came out. The MIT Media lab has a lot of good talks – I recommend the “Siftables” talk as well. - In the mood to smile and laugh at clever advertising?
Rory Sutherland – One of my very favorite talks, it’s a clever look at how advertisers actually add value to the world. Also, hilarious. I recommend his other talk as well. - Interested in thinking about the role of women in business?
Sheryl Sandberg – One of the most discerning discussions of the state of women in society I’ve seen, by the COO of Facebook. Discusses the reasons that women hurt themselves professionally, encourages them to take charge. - In the mood to think about the dynamics of peace negotiations / be inspired?
William Ury – On how to “get to yes” in a negotiation. Good stuff. - In the mood to just be entertained with some sweet juggling?
Michael Moschen – An old one. Long, but worth it – the ‘father of juggling’ does some crazy stuff. - In the mood to see a talk about Reddit?
Alexis Ohanian – Can’t leave this one out of this list!
For around 10 years now I have suffered with stressed induced insomnia, something which pops up from time to time but it’s no real biggie. This lack of sleep can be used to my benefit and can often bring about inspiration and (more often) severe exhaustion.
As I write this it is 6:23am, I am on my second cup of coffee, I have written several hundred words in a blog article I’ve been working on for my portfolio, I’ve written some Objective-C and I’ve also done a bunch of Amazon EC2 research.
Every time I wake up at 3am and can’t resume sleeping there is a routine I often go through and a bunch of things I like to do so early in the morning. There are experiences between 3 and 6am that only insomniacs get to enjoy.
- The sunrise over Sydney – from my apartment I can see the entire city from my balcony.
- City silence – living in such a loud part of the city means it’s rare to hear the streets silent, but hearing soundlessness on King St, Newtown at 4am is incredible.
- Extremely early coffee – there is something about the soundlessness, cold floors, and the warmth of your bed that makes coffee taste so much nicer.
- GTD – actually getting some stuff done in the morning is amazing. Waking up this early means getting everything done.
- Reddit – reading everything before work even starts
- US timezones – if you’re located in Australia you’re very used to having a bunch of your favourite websites out of your timezone, this isn’t the case when you can’t sleep.
Addition from @miksago on Twitter: “walking around an empty city, just as the sun rises, and there’s crisp air.”
I haven’t had a holiday since my last blogging about Viet Nam, so I am totally overdue to put my brain into Neutral for a few weeks, chill out, get drunk and have loads of fun . . . in another country.
Anyway, this is a shout out to all my good friends – have you ever been to Los Angeles, Las Vegas or New York? I need advice as to what are must-do’s and what are must not’s. My itinerary is below and please leave comments.
28th June – 29th June: Los Angeles – this is basically just a stop over waiting for Mik, Ryan and Harmony to arrive.
29th June – 6th July: Las Vegas – we’ve got some plans but also some free days. So far I believe we’re going to see Area 51, a helicopter ride and also see Steel Panther.
6th July – 11th July: New York – very flexible, not quite sure what we’ll do here yet and would love some advice.
So right now I am in the process of planning an amazing trip to the US. I am heading over for @mikmorley‘s wedding and then spending a week in New York with one of the best friends I’ve ever made – Ryan.
While in Las Vegas / Los Angeles there will be loads of people surrounding us, new people to meet, things to do, but for the second leg of the trip Ryan and I have decided to do something completely different.
We’re couch surfing baby, yeah! Ryan and I are hoping to find some awesome locals to meet while we’re there in order to be certain that we take in the true New York experience!
My main reason for this blog post is a bit of an introduction to potential couch-surfing hosts. Hopefully by reading back through this blog, reading my twitter posts, checking out my Flickr photos, checking out my Facebook page (ask and I’ll add you), and generally googling me you can get a fair idea of who I am, but here is a bit of information about Ryan and I that I will be including in introduction emails.
Mitch – 28 years old, software engineer and graphic designer working for a technology startup in Sydney. Easy going and thoughtful, but a bit of a party-boy at heart, loves to have fun and good times. Listens to awful punk music, loves videogames, comic books, art, photography, the whole lot. Also a bit of a geek.
Ryan – 28 year old guy and my best friend. Also a bit of a party boy. Will make ANYONE laugh, will quote TV shows and movies non-stop, will likely keep the party going way too late, but a very thoughtful guy and knows when to stop also and how to respect others.
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- The boys – all smiles, all the time!
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- Rocking, with a friend in between
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- Rocking, with a friend in between
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- The boys, living it up! Mitch in front, Ryan on the right.
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- Ryan in his red suit!
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- The boys – Mitch on the right and Ryand down front.
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- Aww yeah!
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- My birthday, 2006!
I missed out yesterday on writing this, so I am posting this now.
- Family and great friends – I had a blast traveling back fro my mothers 50th birthday party! Highlights include my poor cousins being harassed by an 8 year old, alcohol confiscations from some accidental BYO’s to a licensed venue, and dodging hangovers.
- eBay – Scored a very cheap controller for SSFIV and also due to some insane RSI that is starting to show itself I also bought a hand exerciser.
- Coding time – Totally wrote my very first jQuery plugin which I plan to release soon!
- G**** C*** – only Mik and Ryan will get that. It’s an “in” joke and I don’t care if you feel left out.
- Online time out – Didn’t really do much tweeting and took some time to be computer free over the weekend, which felt amazing!
Today I am starting a gratitude journal. I don’t think it’s lame, in fact I think you should do one too. Or don’t, I’m not the boss of you.
5 (geeky) things to be grateful for today:
- jQuery – if life was this simple I would win constantly.
- Super Street Fighter IV – Enough said, I think.
- Saturdays! – A whole day being a geek with my great friend Nic (@Nnooo_Nic) from Nnooo, playing games and checking out some of their upcoming WiiWare titles!
- My iPad – Sunday morning reading comics in bed just wouldn’t be the same without it!
- Comics – Reading some Green Lantern graphic novels – Win!